Shikhar Dhawan : Getting dropped only acts as a motivation for me

09/15/2016

After being dropped for the final Test against West Indies, Shikhar Dhawan has said it “feels sad” but that it “only acts as a motivation”. Caught in a three-way fight with KL Rahul and Murali Vijay for the opening slots, the southpaw has termed the competition “good for Indian cricket”.

Shikhar Dhawan did not have the best of tours when India visited West Indies. After a solid performance in the first innings of the first Test to start with, things went downhill for him until he was dropped from the playing XI once Murali Vijay was back on his feet from an injury. K L Rahul, who had traveled as a back-up for the two openers, grabbed the opportunity that was presented and hit a century to replace the southpaw as Murali Vijay's opening partner.

Speaking about the predicament, Dhawan said, “I am aware that there could be three players for two (opening) spots. But there is nothing wrong in it. In fact it is good for Indian cricket. To have healthy competitions among players for places in the team is good for Indian cricket and the game in general. Rahul has done well in the recent past — not only in the Test matches but also in T20 cricket,” reported PTI.

However, he refused to be bogged down by the rebuke and said that it only motivates him to do better.

“I definitely feel sad but that only act as a motivation. Like, when I was left out for the T20s - of course I wanted to be in the playing XI. So, that required me to do better. So, I thought, 'OK man, I have to raise my standards. As simple as that.' I don't look outside; I look inside and say, 'I will have to do this, I will do it,” Dhawan said after the Duleep trophy final at Noida.

The opener has picked the spinners as the crucial factor for both the sides as India prepare to host New Zealand soon.

“New Zealand have some good players like their captain (Kane) Williamson and (Tim) Southee. They can make an impact in the series. At the same time, it could be a spinning track in the series. They have Mitchell Santner in the side, who bowled well in the World T20, is also there,” Dhawan said.

He also praised coach Anil Kumble for his attitude and knowledge.

“I feel good to work with Kumble bhai. He is a well-read person and a dedicated coach. I also like his aggressive approach to the game,” said the left-hander.

The Delhi batsman did not have a great outing in the Duleep trophy final – needing to mount a challenge against a gigantic total by India Blue, Dhawan scored identical scores of 29 at the top as his India Red side slumped to an ignominious defeat despite being in for a draw at least.

However, given the pink ball experiment has been the overwhelming theme, Dhawan was quizzed about the same and he said,

“It is too early to comment on pink ball cricket under lights. You can look at it from different perspectives. We (India Red) could not play well here (Duleep Trophy final). We batted poorly. On the other hand, they (India Blue) did wonderfully well with both bat and the ball. So, there are two sides of it.

“I don’t want to form an opinion to early. Let there be 5-10 matches and some more tournaments with the pink ball. Then we will know where it stands,” reported PTI.

Shikhar Dhawan : Getting dropped only acts as a motivation for me

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